Blue as the Sky, blue as the Río de la Plata, blue as the Virgin Mary – there are many stories behind the origin of Argentina’s flag, and more specifically, about the meaning of its light blue color.

Anything Blue review – why is Argentina flag blue?

The most current explanation, the one taught to children, is that the blue stripes represent the Sky, in the middle of which floats the central Sun – as you can see in the section ‘About the Argentinian Flag’ below, from educational website Activity Village (see below – they also provides a ready-to-print Argentinan flag to colour, in case you have some Little Ones to keep busy, and as many blue pencils).

But there are other interpretations about what the Argentinian flag’s colours could stand for, including a reference to the Spanish House of Bourbon and the famous river Rio de la Plata.

Still want to know more about Argentina’s flag? Start by this extract then read the full story (in Spanish OR in English) on Don Quijote (.org):

From Activity Village: ‘The National flag of Argentina is made up of three equal horizontal stripes colored light blue, white and light blue. The three-stripe design is known as a ‘triband’, with the colours representing the sky and the clouds. In the middle of the central white stripe is a yellow sun, which is a replica of an engraving from the first official Argentinean coin. The flag was createdby Manuel Belgrano and was first raised above the city of Rosario in February 1812.’

[English version] ‘The history of Argentina’s flag, which dates back to 1812, is wrapped in a curious mix of revolutionary fighting for independence from Spain and Incan sun worship.

The Argentine flag has three horizontal bands; the top and bottom ones are light blue, and the middle is white.

The Argentine flag colors’ meaning is disputed. Some say the white represents silver. Early conquistadors named the country Argentina after the Latin word Argentinum, meaning silver, thinking that the region contained vast amounts of the precious metal. The blue bands may represent the sky, the waters of Argentina’s Rio de la Plata, or the blue used by the Spanish royal house of Bourbon on their coat of arms.’